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Journey
Prologue Her time had come to meet her fate. She had undergone a perilous voyage, nearly missed destroying an entire world, and had been betrayed by a friend. After that, she had been cornered by her old trainer, defeated by her only weakness, and had been ordered to betray her companions. When she refused, she had been defeated again. She was falling. Next to her was the side of a cliff, but otherwise there was nothing but a starry sky above her and dark storm clouds below her. She could not tell what kind of surface she was going to hit, but she did not worry. She was silent and unmoving. She was at peace at a time when she should have been worrying. As she continued to descend, the ground became visible. Stone. And yet she did not try to stop her fall, mor or less slow it down. But getting to this point in the story requires going back. Before she was defeated, before she had been betrayed, before she came close to causing mass destruction, and before she went on the fateful journey. This is the journey of Vanda Darkflame. Chapter 1.1 Vanda Darkflame, leader of the Paradox faction, elite ninja in-training, and protector of the Forbidden Valley, thought felt as if something was missing from her life. She was on a trip in Nimbus Station for an emergency meeting, which had been her first time out of the Forbidden Valley in several months. The so-called "vacation" had continuously proven to be dull. She was stuck in Nimbus for five entire days. The first three had been dedicated to being introduced to people she had never heard of. The fourth, which happened to be the present day, was the day of the meeting. Then, she could return home a day later. She sat up in bed, still feeling like something was missing. Nothing seemed to be out of order, and she wasn't forgetting anything. Yet she had a sense that something wasn't right; that something was gone. She looked out of the Paradox building's window and into Nimbus Plaza. The sun was rising, and it glinted off of the ocean to create a beautiful scenery for early-morining minifigures trying to make an easy buck by trading. She wanted to shut the curtains, but she had to admire how much different the sight was from the gloomy, grey looks of the Forbidden Valley. Vanda checked her phone. No new messages. It was funny, because her friends from the Forbidden Valley were early-risers and almost were never quiet, especially when she was away from them. But she put the phone away, and continued to enjoy the gorgeous scenery. But suddenly, she took out the phone again, realizing something. No messages... It was an instant thought. That was what she was missing. Something was wrong in the Forbidden Valley. She wanted to finally leave Nimbus Station, but her job as Paradox faction leader required her to attend all of her meetings. And she could not afford to miss an emergency. Once again, she glanced at the phone. It was seven-thirty. She was late, as usual. And so it was, Vanda Darkflame, leader of the Paradox faction, got changed, did her hair quickly, and left the building to get to the meeting. Chapter 1.2 As Vanda exited the Paradox faction building, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in one of its windows. Her hair was all pretty much in order; the pink streak had just barely covered her right eye, which was the position in which she had been putting it lately. The rest of her hair, her natural color of black, was fortunately not mangled. Her red and gold-patterned robes, on the other hand, were badly wrinkled. She sprinted through Nimbus Plaza towards the Brick Annex, in hopes of not being too late. On the way there, a few minifigures waved at her, as she could be very popular out in public; it was one of the faction leaders' advantages. As she continued up the path and into the Annex, the towering Assembly building came into view. The Brick Annex, in her opinion, was the most beautiful part of Nimbus Station. The ground burrowed in, allowing minifigures to build staircases and pave walkways. On the edge of the Annex, the ocean met a wall of concrete, providing a scenery even more gorgeous than the Plaza. On the right were vendor booths and the Assembly building, and to the left was an entrance to the world of Starbase 3001 and one that led to Pet Cove. As she neared the building, a weak but friendly voice greeted her. "Ah, Vanda!" exclaimed the voice, revealing it was none but Mardolf the Orange. "It's been a long time." The elderly Assembly wizard was always friendly and interested in something. He wore orange wizard robs, which bore the Assembly logo. On his head was an orange wizard hat, and he had a white beard that went down to his chest. His black eyes rarely blinked. "Here for the meeting, are you?" he asked. "Yes", she replied. He gave her the Nexus HoloCard required to enter the building. She ran up to the door, slid the card in its slot, and bolted inside. From there she sprinted up the staircase, not wanting to take the elevator, as it would be too slow. She reached the third floor, opened a single door, and stepped into the meeting room. The other faction leaders were already there, but they did not seem to have begun. Vanda let out a sigh of relief. "Vanda", said Duke Exeter, "please, have a seat." Duke's expression was solemn. He was never solemn. Chapter 1.3 Even as she sat down, Duke's expression remained grim. He would've never been upset on a normal occasion, so Vanda knew something had greatly troubled him. Even though she tried to piece it together, she could not think of anything that could've pained the brave Sentinel faction leader. However, the other faction leaders seemed to be at normal states. Doc Overbuild, leader of the Assembly faction, was trying to connect a weird-looking device with an average brick. Hael Storm, leading of the Venture League, was polishing his new pistol. Both looked as though the meeting had not started. Sitting back down, Duke said, "I've called you all here for a very important reason." He paused. "Although it pains me, I have been forced to shut down construction of the Nexus Tower." Vanda was pained to hear that. The work on the Nexus Tower was the only thing that Duke had been taking pride of lately, and if he had been forced to shut it down, something must've been pretty bad. "Why did you do this?" asked Doc, puzzled. "Is it permanent?" Hael asked, putting his feet up on the table. Vanda remained silent. "No, it won't be permanent", replied Duke. "The Maelstrom somehow breached our Imagination force field surrounding the construction sight, and attempted to attack us. We stopped them, but with a great cost of infections." "We believe there is a traitor", he continued, "who has been connecting with Baron Typhonus and giving them our blueprints of Nexus Tower plans. Two weeks ago, half of the blueprints in my office on the construction sight were gone missing, and no one seemed to have done it." Doc stopped fiddling with the brick. Hael put his legs back down. Vanda's eyes narrowed. "Yes", Exeter said, "it's true." Chapter 1.4 Everyone in the room was silent. Vanda tried to convince herself that what Duke had just said wasn't true, and that none of the minifigures had betrayed the Nexus Force. But even though she tried, she knew that Duke wouldn't lie to them. "Do you have any follows as to who it is?" Vanda asked, breaking the silence. "Not really", Duke replied. "Whoever it was left a purple liquid behind, but my analysis cannot identify the substance." "Why didn't you just give it to me?" "You could've found a match?" "Yes. There are many types of Maelstrom goos and liquids, but I could've easily found what it's made of." Doc put his goggles on and started toying with the device and brick again. Hael put his boots on the table once more. Both were obviously bored; they had not found places for themselves in the conversation. "Do you still have it?" Vanda asked. "Yes", Duke replied. "It's back in the Sentinel building, but when we're finished, I can get it to you." "Please tell me you didn't touch it... most liquids like this are either deadly or highly infectious." "No, I didn't. In fact..." His words trailed off. Vanda was suddenly distracted by a slight vibrate in her sleeve. Her phone. Quickly but silently, she picked it up, hoping she had finally received the long-awaited text. But instead, she found a voicemail. From Fong Shader. Vanda knew something was going on. "I'll be right back", she said shakily, cutting off Duke. Once in the hallway, Vanda picked up her phone and pulled it up to her ear. In the voicemail, there was a sound as if Fong was running, the word "Help!", and an explosion. "I'll be there", she promised herself. Once back in the meeting room, she sat down, opened her mouth, but hesitated. Then she said, "I'm back. What'd I miss?" Category:Stories Based on NPCs